


when we were young

by determination



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/determination/pseuds/determination
Summary: The empty classroom. The soft feeling of trembling fingers on his skin, the strands of hair tucked affectionately behind his ear. The barest press of lips to his own.“Do you remember our first kiss?” he asks quietly.written for Cidnero week day 4. prompt: first kiss
Relationships: Cid nan Garlond/Nero tol Scaeva
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35
Collections: Cidnero Week 2020





	when we were young

Cid is seated atop his desk. Nero has one arm braced against it, and the other cups Cid’s chin with marked gentleness. Cid’s legs had, at some point, come to wrap around Nero, and his arms, too, are loosely hooked at his waist. 

Nero kisses Cid languidly. As if there isn’t a pile of paperwork Cid has spent at least half an hour neglecting. Not that Nero would care, assuming he knows Cid is avoiding his work. This is, Cid presumes to be their shared opinion, a much better use of their time. (Unfortunately, though, he doubts Jessie would agree if she knew. Thankfully she does not know.)

Nero shifts and leans his body a bit closer, tucking strands of Cid’s hair behind his ear. The gesture feels familiar somehow, and a series of disjointed images flash in Cid’s mind. A scene… Perhaps from his youth. Or a dream, he’s not sure.

“... Do you remember…” Cid tries to speak, but it’s difficult when Nero’s mouth is so insistent on staying connected to his. He tilts his head back, trying to distance himself, but Nero just follows, a firm grip at the nape of his neck, fingers teasing the ends of his hair. “Dammit, Nero,” Cid laughs breathlessly and lifts his hands to push his palms against Nero’s chest. 

“Why must you waste our time with needless chatter,” Nero pouts, though he acquiesces and draws back. He sighs and gives Cid an inquisitive look. “Remember  _ what _ , Garlond?”

Cid searches his mind for a clearer picture. The details are so fuzzy. The scenario feels more and more like something he’d dreamed once. Still, he can’t ignore the déjà vous, that it was something that _did_ occur in the past. 

The empty classroom. The soft feeling of trembling fingers on his skin, the strands of hair tucked affectionately behind his ear. The barest press of lips to his own. 

“Do you remember our first kiss?” he asks quietly.

Nero’s eyes widen a fraction. His brows furrow, and his expression reads,  _ Is this a trick question? _ After a long pause, he adjusts his hold on Cid, hands dropping to clasp at the small of his back. “... After Omega, wasn’t it?”

The hesitance of his reply fills Cid with conviction. “I suppose that might suffice,” Cid murmurs, “But are you sure it wasn’t much earlier than that? Say… during our school days?”

Now Nero’s eyes go round. With surprise, recognition… And, if the blush that floods his cheeks is anything to go by, embarrassment. His mouth opens and closes a few times, and he attempts to pull away, but Cid is quick to tighten his grip, keeping Nero right where he is. Nero squirms and looks quite discontented.

“... You…” He pointedly averts his gaze, no matter how Cid tries to angle his head to meet it. “You weren’t supposed to…” Trailing off, he lets out a slow exhale, then shrinks a bit. “I… I didn’t think you remembered…”

Aha. So it  _ is _ a memory after all. Gods, Cid wishes it were clearer. But alas, his brain is determined that the event should remain abstract. “How long ago was it?” he asks.

“Hells if I know,” Nero shakes his head. “I do know that I was young and stupid. I somehow got it in my head that if I-” He cuts himself off, looking vaguely mortified. “N-nevermind.”

But Cid is smiling, and that just makes Nero’s blush brighten. “So you liked me even back then, huh,” he says fondly. 

“That’s not what I…” Nero starts to object, but no, it rather is what he meant, and arguing otherwise would be futile.

“I admit, I did forget about it, at least until now,” Cid goes on, somewhat apologetic. “But, looking back, it’s no wonder nothing came of it. I was as dense a child as I am an adult. And you never were one to voice your feelings.” Nero opens his mouth again to protest, and Cid hastily adds, laughing, “Your  _ true _ feelings, anyway. You’ve never had trouble bluffing through your teeth.”

With a defeated sigh, Nero gives up trying to escape and leans against Cid, lifting a hand to toy with a lock of Cid’s hair. “... Can you blame me?” he mutters. “I didn’t know you as well as I do now. That, and we were naive, ignorant children. Your lack of response felt pretty damning, with good reason. I decided it would be better for both of us to pretend it never happened.”

Gaze softening, Cid reaches up, cupping Nero’s cheeks to look into his eyes. For once, Nero doesn’t look away. “And despite that, look how far we’ve come now,” he says with a warm, teasing smile. “I finally figured out that I’m rather taken with your particular brand of idiocy, and you found it within your heart to be honest… half the time.”

At that, Nero snorts. “Indeed. Some character growth,” he rolls his eyes. But he seems to have gotten past the flustered wave, snickering now in his usual smug manner. “In that respect, it’s difficult to say which of us has worse taste.” 

“I don’t know,” Cid chuckles, one brow quirking upward, “I at least have my looks going for me.”

Nero frowns exaggeratedly. “Oi, how dare you imply that I’m not devilishly handsome. Do you know how much effort goes into looking casually rugged like this? I have more sex appeal in my single, purposeful loose strand of hair than you do in your entire body.”

It’s Cid’s turn to snort. “So you admit you have worse taste than I do?”

“That’s-” Nero blinks indignantly at him. With a huff, he leans in and forcefully kisses Cid, who grunts with the impact. “You’re... bloody ridiculous. I almost preferred you when you simply thought you hated me.”

“Almost?” Cid repeats, his affectionate laugh stifled by Nero’s persistent lips. 

Nero huffs again. “What? You think I don’t have the stones to admit this is an infinitely better use of our time than constantly bickering like coeurls and wolves?” 

It's funny, that Cid could say the same thing - Nero had, when they reunited, seemed to genuinely despise him, at least in his eyes. _I almost preferred you when you simply thought you hated me_. But it would be so far from the truth, so wholly and categorically wrong that it makes him want to laugh even just thinking about it. No, he vastly prefers this Nero. The Nero who blushes and gets flustered because Cid's brain decided to randomly remember their first kiss. The Nero who kisses him with the reverence of someone handling their most precious treasure.

Cid smiles against Nero’s mouth. He raises his arms to interlock them behind Nero’s neck. “No. If we’re being honest, I agree with you. This is undoubtedly better.” 

He’s content to fall silent as Nero deepens the kiss.


End file.
